Families sue US over Black babies who died in 1960s vaccine test

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Washington DC: In Washington D.C., families of two Black infants who died in 1967 have filed a landmark federal lawsuit against the United States government. Represented by nationally renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump, the families of Ross Otto Hambrick and Victor Marcellus King allege that the children were secretly enrolled in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) sponsored trial for a dangerous, experimental Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine known as ‘Lot 100.’

The complaint, brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, claims federal health agencies targeted low-income Black families without obtaining informed consent.

Crucially, the lawsuit alleges that tissue samples harvested from the infants' autopsies were used decades later to inform the development of modern RSV vaccines that were approved in 2023 and now generate billions in revenue.

This case exposes a disturbing chapter of medical history and systemic racial bias in public health research. The plaintiffs are now demanding full accountability and compensation for the immeasurable loss their families have endured for nearly sixty years.